You can usually see a Hooded Merganser and a Red-breasted Merganser at this time of year at Humber Bay. And we did on this very windy, cloudy 2 degree morning.

However, you are much less likely to spot the Common Merganser. At most localities and in most seasons, this is the common merganser in Ontario but not in the Toronto area in cold weather.

We had a female mixed in with other duck species this morning:

These photos are not precise due to the strong sunshine behind the bird. Here are some Common Mergansers that I was able to photograph earlier this year.

Species list: mute swan, Canada goose, mallard, gadwall,  bufflehead, common goldeneye, long-tailed duck, common merganser, hooded merganser, red-breasted merganser, red-tailed hawk, ring-billed gull, downy woodpecker, black-capped chickadee, northern mockingbird,  cedar waxwing, European starling, house sparrow, northern cardinal, American goldfinch, dark-eyed junco.  (21 species)

Park scenes:

Today’s group:

Now is the time for the burning of the leaves.
They go to the fire; the nostril pricks with smoke
Wandering slowly into a weeping mist.
Brittle and blotched, ragged and rotten sheaves!
A flame seizes the smouldering ruin and bites
On stubborn stalks that crackle as they resist.     – Robert Laurence Binyon (1869–1943)

Miles Hearn